I apologize in advance for the
brevity of this letter, but wanted to inform you all right away that we are
planning to release patch 1.18 on July 21 (PST).

All that’s left is the
balancing and debugging of the two instanced raids. (There’s no guarantee all
future instances will fit the definition of “dungeon,” and it’d just be
ridiculous and flat out wrong to call something that isn’t a dungeon a dungeon,
right? But even a small party of people can raid a given location, dungeon or
otherwise. Just sayin’.) But things are preeetty tight, so there may be a 1- or
2-day delay.

Sorry to all of you who are waiting, but
we want to make sure the debugging is done right before releasing this content,
so bear with us just a bit longer. That’s it for now. Time to get back to
work!

See you soon! ‘

It seems we have another 2 weeks ahead of us. Hopefully 1.18 will be ready for us by then.

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One of the best looking MMOs that’s coming out within the next year or so seems to be Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I played Star Wars Galaxies for about a year or so but it didn’t live up to my expectations at all so away I went. However, I do think there were several positive aspects of the game. This seems to be a similar, but much better version of SWG and hopefully it will have less headache in it as well.

There are many trailers to watch and a lot of info about it over at http://www.swtor.com and you can even sign up to be a beta tester there. While watching one of the E3 videos featuring Dallas Dickinson’s commentary, he explained a lot about the online partying system, battle system, character progression and dialogue during quests. You can even ‘teleport’ back to the last place you bound yourself to (ie. a specific outpost, city, etc) after finishing a quest deep in a monster’s lair, for example.

From what I saw during the E3 video trailer it looks pretty awesome. All hail to MMO awesomeness!!

This is a really great game if it was newly released in the early 2000s. However, from the lack of abilities, skill tree, options for ‘doing stuff’ to the redundant sword swinging the same way as a 90s hack ‘n slash, I felt this game is very much behind the curve of new millenium gaming.

Though it does provide somewhat of a decent visual experience, I couldn’t help to feel that there is something very lacking in the game. There are some quests, there is a main story but character growth (or a lack thereof) makes me feel that this game falls short of what is expected.

Though it does have a few ‘mature’ scenes in it and has language consistent that would be used as adults would use in certain situations, I don’t think many in my age group would find this game very appealing after spending a few days playing. It most likely will make most feel as if they were ripped off.

I think I’d rather play my modded version of The Last Remnant or The Last Oddesy.

[dev1083] A new text command has been added which allows players to specify
targeting behavior when pressing confirm without a target selected.

/directtarget (/dtar) [subcommand]
>>Subcommands
on
Toggle direct targeting on.
(Overrides active targeting mode to render
all characters selectable.)
off Toggle direct targeting
off.
(Determines selectable targets based on current targeting
mode.)
Toggle between on and off when no subcommand is specified.* The default setting is
off.

Fixed
Bugs

The following bugs have been addressed:

A bug wherein a party currently engaging a notorious monster could receive
the benefits of items from other parties.

A bug wherein gnats did not link under certain circumstances.

A bug wherein players could not undertake certain duties in the sidequest
“Seashells by the Seashore.”

A bug wherein pressing Ctrl + T to scroll through the /tell history
would skip the most recent recipient. ‘

It is with pleasure
that I announce the release of the battle reform blueprint. My apologies to have
kept you waiting for so long, but due to my primary patch commitments, this
document has been longer in the making than intended.
But without further
ado, please allow me to take you through the blueprint and explain in detail the
planned changes and the driving force behind each of them.

Akihiko
Matsui
Lead Battle Planner

Reform Concept

Fostering Skillful Play

Creating a battle system that fosters skillful play.
The
above is, in a sentence, the rationale behind the coming battle changes. Not
exactly the punchiest catchphrase around, but perhaps there’s kindly a soul out
there who could word it better. */poke Yoshi-P*

To elaborate, we are
aiming to address issues such as the following:

Victories coming with little reliance on skillful play.

Lack of information needed for skillful play.

No sense of accomplishment even with skillful play.

In
light of the above, our objective is to implement a battle system that rewards
player effort and innovation in such areas as equipment, hunting grounds, and
party structure.

Lastly, in conceiving these changes, we have kept one
fact close to heart: simply making enemies stronger does not equate to an
environment that fosters and rewards skillful
play.

Battle
Content

Dungeons

Dungeons, the proving grounds for parties, will be released in 1.18.
We will be implementing two types to begin with, with future updates to usher in
additional maps and battle concepts.
This content takes the form of raid
missions in which players slash and burn their way through a labyrinthine area
before finally squaring off against a formidable final foe. Dungeons are
intended to push teamwork to the limit, and players can expect a level of
satisfaction (and spoils!) befitting the challenge.

To coincide with the
addition of dungeons, a number of actions and skills will receive tweaks ahead
of time, the details of which will be released at a later
date.

Notorious Monsters

We will continue to introduce new NMs on a regular basis, although
numbers may be modest for patches boasting large-scale features such as
dungeons. Players can look forward to engaging in more epic struggles and
acquiring spectacular
spoils.

Partying

Skillful Partying

Alongside our ongoing endeavors to make solo adventuring ever more
rewarding, we are also injecting effort into making full-fledged partying more
enjoyable. At the heart of this undertaking is a series of plans to draw out the
uniqueness of each class (details in the Armoury System section below).
It
goes without saying to those familiar with MMORPGs, but the masterful
manipulation of the following facets of battle is the cornerstone of effective
partying.

Enmity (hate) control, which governs the enemy’s attack target.

Crowd control (CC), the act of rendering enemy groups incapable of
attacking.

Enmity (Hate) Control

Following review, we have deemed the current algorithm unnecessarily
complicated, and as such have decided to simplify the system as follows:

Damage will convert to enmity at a one-to-one ratio (in most cases)

Players will have the means to examine their own current hate
value.

A hate conversion formula will be applied to
actions that target friendlies or do not inflict damage.

Furthermore, a
player’s enmity will be made constantly visible as a percentage of that of the
party member being attacked. A feature whereby players may examine hate values
for all party members is also under consideration for a future
update.

Crowd Control (CC)

As crowd control tactics are expected to gain in prominence with the
introduction of dungeons, a host of adjustments is being planned centered around
the following:

The reforming of crowd control methods

Tweaks to crowd control actions and their distribution among
classes.

Solo Play

Solo play is the preferred choice of those short on time, and we
intend to preserve the balance wherein adventurers can take on foes of the same
rank unaided. Even as we work to further accentuate the uniqueness of each
class, we will make it so that all classes are capable of ranking up via solo
play.

Auto-attack and
Other Systems

Auto-attack

We will be implementing auto-attack. As the workload for this is
expected to be considerable, however, the feature will be introduced in stages
alongside revisions for other systems.

For the first stage, we will
implement the core mechanics of auto-attack and perform provisional adjustments
to the accompanying damage algorithm. The next stage, planned to take place
after the aforementioned crowd control and action/skill revisions, will involve
a fine-tuning of the auto-attack algorithm. Other algorithms will also undergo
revisions, which will be explained further below. In so doing, we hope to
further draw out the unique flavor of each weapon. At this same time, we will
also carry out motion and other graphical revisions to accommodate
auto-attack.

Action Bar

We realize that having to reequip gear and reset actions every time
you change class is a source of chagrin. Although we are unable to indicate a
timeframe, discussions are underway with the UI team on ways for players to
retain equipment and action data for each class.
As battle revisions
encompass not only tweaks to areas such as classes, items, and monsters, but
also entail improvements to user interface, we wanted to share with you this
aspect of our plans as well.

Battle Regimens

We are afraid to inform you that work on the Battle Regimen system
has been postponed, as adjustments and additions alone will not suffice to
address problems. There is a need to rework the system from the ground up, and
we will lay the foundation stones after other changes have been seen to
completion.

Character
Development

Battle Attribute Allotment

When it comes to battle, class rank should, by logic, be more
important than physical level. The reality of the situation, however, is that
attribute point allotment is dependent upon physical level, something that is
causing complications in our endeavor to improve the battle system.

In
the recent battle poll (thanks to all who participated), we learned that a
considerable number of players would be willing to forgo physical levels, but
wanted to retain the ability to customize characters through attribute
allotment. Armed with this knowledge, we proceeded to formulate the optimal
solution.

The decision: attribute point allotment will no longer
accompany gains in physical level, and will instead occur when characters rise
in class rank. Although the amount in frequency of points awarded will be lower
than previously, players will find that each point will have a more profound
effect.

Algorithms

In light of changes planned for the Armoury System, the need to
revise algorithms has arisen. At the same time, we will also carry out the
changes below in order to streamline areas made overly complicated.

Abolishing the rounding formula based on standard rank values *1

Optimizing the value ranges for the influence of attributes *2

Many in-game elements are known to
influence algorithms, and we are working on identifying them all regardless of
the extent of their impact.

We believe that the above changes will allow
players to more keenly feel and appreciate the myriad benefits offered by magic
and equipment, which will lead to a new depth of enjoyment in
attributes.

*1 The algorithm whereby values associated
with rank are rounded up or down to be as close to the standard as
possible.

*2 The system whereby enhancing statuses
(whether obtained through attribute allotment, equipment, or magic) are
influenced by incremental sets of
values.

Armoury
System

Classes

Actions will undergo major revisions, along with both the underlying
mechanics and conditions.

By major revisions, not only do we mean the
tweaking of effects and potency of existing actions – we will work from the
ground up to redesign and reassign actions based on clearly identified class
roles.

We will also make a number of changes as part of our reexamination
of how actions are equipped and the character requirements for doing so. First,
actions learned by each class will be set to the action bar by default when
playing as that class. Also, we will be making some actions settable on any
class, while other “class-defining” actions obtained at higher ranks will be
usable only by that class.

Jobs

The job system – that series-defining trademark – will be
implemented in FINAL FANTASY XIV (details such as specific jobs TBA). Quests to
unlock each job will become available once you have reached a certain rank in
the corresponding class.
Rather than being advanced versions of classes, we
would like players to think of jobs as specialized playing styles optimized for
partying. While playing as a particular job will render you unable to equip
certain actions of other classes, you will be compensated with access to
exclusive actions, which can be acquired through quests.

In practice,
players will find the existing classes effective when playing solo or in certain
party setups. Jobs, however, will shine in party situations where specific skill
sets are demanded. Now, you didn’t hear this from me, but there are also rumors
circulating that quests for obtaining job-exclusive equipment are also in the
pipes.
We at the development team are currently hard at work on the job
system, and expect to have details to share with you
soon.

In
Closing

Fighting the Good Fight

Thank you for taking the time to pore over these words. Having read
the blueprint, there is bound to be more than a few players who feel that we’ve
only recited a handful of things common to all MMORPGs. There may be others
still who are saddened – perhaps even piqued – that elements they felt made
FINAL FANTASY XIV unique will be going to the cutting block.

I would like
to clarify here that the battle team’s overarching objective is to lay a solid
foundation upon which to build new elements – elements that will bring out the
best in FINAL FANTASY XIV. The marriage of classes and jobs is representative of
this endeavor. Whereas the ease of play classes offer will find favor with solo
and casual party players, jobs will add a new depth of enjoyment for those
wishing to take on high-level, strategy-rich content.

A period of great
change is underway, and we ask you to bear with us. FINAL FANTASY XIV is dear to
us as it is to our fans, and there is simply nothing we would love more than to
see it flourish into everything it can be. And to see this wish become reality,
we promise to spare no effort in delivering the ultimate battle experience to
players.

On behalf of the team, thank you always for your encouragement
and support.

“Well, we are creeping up on Golden Week here in Japan—a weeklong vacation packed with some of Japan’s finest holiday offerings. But for now it’s still business as usual in the office for Yoshida and crew.

Patches 1.17 and 1.17a are good and done, and we’ve started work on the next patch—appropriately named 1.18.

1.18 is going to be relatively bigger than previous patches. This means that balancing is going to take more time than usual, and so we’re anticipating a somewhat longer period between patches. Even if we break off some of the content and release it ahead of time in a 1.17b patch (which me might!), 1.18 will still go live sometime in mid-June at the earliest. Sorry for that.

But good things come to those who wait! Dungeons designed for ranks 30 and 50 are on their way, and 1.18 will see the start of our reworking of the battle system, as we bring in some changes to that area.

Also, we’re planning to introduce various new encampments that will serve as quest hubs. We’re in the process of testing these now on our development servers, and I strong-armed one of the designers in charge into handing over some screenshots for me to post here.

From top to bottom, those are encampments in the Ul’dah, Limsa Lominsa, and Gridania regions. In this way, we’re going to gradually increase the number of public areas with quest hubs. We also have some beast tribe versions in the works, but it’s looking like those will have to wait until 1.19.

By the by, this is still under development, but here’s what the beast tribe equivalent is looking like.

I’ll continue to drop more details on future patch content on the Lodestone forums, and in these letters as well. Akihiko Matsui, our lead battle planner, will also be posting on the forums in the near future regarding some of the new battle concepts we have planned.

Come mid-May, the vanguards of the Grand Companies will be the first to brave Eorzea’s newly discovered dungeons. Their preliminary reports will be made available on the Grand Companies page on the Lodestone, so be sure to check it out!

Instanced dungeons will provide a means to further solidify the bonds of the Maelstrom, the Immortal Flames, and the Order of the Twin Adder. The Grand Companies are large-scale organizations that will play an active role in the events going on in Eorzea as they happen, so be on the lookout!

In my next letter, I’ll be sure to update the list of game changes. (Sorry it’s been so long…)

Until then! And for players in Japan, I hope you enjoy Eorzea over your Golden Week!

Oh, and one more thing, I’ve seen some auto-translations of some of my posts going up on the forums. A recent one concerning synthesis actually starting spreading some misinformation before our official translation came out. I know I post at crazy hours sometimes, and that there are time lags, but ask that you please refrain from posting these translations in the forums. Thanks, and talk to you again soon!”